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debate on poverty
key
Questions:
Does investing in
ICTs mean ignoring other priorities?
Have ICTs
exacerbated existing inequalities?
See
quotes from debate
THE VOTE:
The majority
(66%), voted that ICTs had the potential to alleviate poverty; 24%
voted that ICTs had an impact on poverty, 5% voted that they did not,
and 1% did not know.
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Do ICTs
alleviate poverty in Africa?
By Matthew White
Acacia Senior Reporter
THERE is no clear evidence yet whether ICTs alleviate poverty or not. A
spirited debate followed a brief review by researcher Catherine Adeya, and
three presentations on empirical studies and actual projects. At a
conference where most participants are seen to have a vested interest in
promoting the use of ICTs in Africa, an overwhelming pro vote would foregone
the conclusion.
Not so. Even the two men who formally debated the pros and
cons of the issue - Bellanet’s Riff Fullan and Meddie Mayanja, an ICT
communications development specialist with the World Bank Institute - ended
up not voting for their original propositions.
Mayanja had cited instances of improvement from three
different ICT projects in Uganda. The projects resulted in the creation of a
successful e-commerce initiative in a slum area, the second provided
training in enterpreneurship for unemployed youths, and the last but not
least resulted in a steep fall in maternal mortality rate.
Fullan argued that the evidence suggested that ICTs had
exacerbated existing inequalities. Further, in many countries, the
environment in which ICTs could help to reduce poverty did not exist. Among
factors that adversely affected the ICT potential to address poverty were
widespread illiteracy, affordability of the solutions and the fact that most
content is of questionable local relevance.
A key issue for many African countries, he said, was that
investing in ICTs meant ignoring other priorities.
Following the formal debate, the conference gathered in small
groups to continue the discussion. From there emerged a consensus that the
subject of debate was simplistic and delegates could not simple vote pro or
con. A new proposition was framed that added two more choices - that ICTs
have the potential to alleviate poverty; and don’t know.
The majority (66%), including Fullan and Mayanja, voted that
ICTs had the potential to alleviate poverty; 24% voted that ICTs had an
impact on poverty, 5% voted that they did not, and 1% did not know.
Speaking to Acacia WebTimes after the session, Fullan and
Mayanja both indicated they were pleased with the outcome.
“The real issues emerged from the delegates’ discussions,
such as the recognition that if ICTs are to be a factor in alleviating
poverty, they must be contextualised,” Mayanja said.
Another issue was the matter of medical ethics and the
patient’s right to privacy that might be infringed when records are stored
electronically. “The important point here is that ICTs have to be non-sectorial,”
he said.
Despite his reservation, Fullan said: “Knowledge and
information are critical to the control of environments and it is essential
to maximise the positives of ICTs or the result will be even more negative.”
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